Roger Ailes (Informative Essay Sample)

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Roger Ailes is a renowned media personality who is currently serving as a president of the Fox News Channel. He shares this position jointly with chairmanship to the Fox Television Stations since 1996. Roger Ailes is a prominent media personality and has had great impact on the mass media industry, especially in the United States of America. His involvements in mass media industry started immediately when he got his first job as a productions executive at Fox New Channels.

Birth, Education and Career of Roger Ailes

Roger Ailes was born in May 1940, in Warren, Ohio State, United States of America. In 1962, Roger Ailes graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. His full name is Roger Eugene Ailes.

Roger Ailes has worked as a media consultant to various presidents of the United States of America, especially those who vied through the Republican Party, for example, President Richard Nixon, Ronald Regan and George W. Bush. Furthermore, Roger Ailes also serves as Chief Executive Officer of My Network TV and FOX Business Network. He has held the position since 2005.

Furthermore, as a director of the Fox News Channel, Roger Ailes helped in establishment of rules and regulations that would protect media owners and journalists from biased prosecutions by State agencies. According to Eglantine, Roger Ailes was in favor of full implementation of the Communications Act of 1985 which, in his view, was formulated to protect the rights and freedoms of media reporters (35). Eglantine further asserts that Roger declared his interest in protection of all journalists, whether white or black Americans, when he was giving a public speech at University of North California in 1987 (41).

Roger Ailes joined President Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign team in 1967. Immediately after Richard Nixon won the presidential elections, Rogers Ailes founded the Ailes Communications Company which was based in the New York city. At Ailes Communications, Roger continued to work in the mass media industry. According to Hillstrom, Roger Ailes also prepared President Ronald Regan during his presidential campaigns in 1984 (149). One of his major strategies included creation and development of televised campaign adverts. These adverts were designed and developed by Roger Ailes and his colleague Phillip Dusenberry. In my view, Roger Ailes contributed a lot to the advancement of mass media through such adverts. He used special imagery features in creating adverts. His advertising techniques are still in use today, especially in television adverts, as well as print media advertisements.

When he was campaigning for President W. Bush, Roger Ailes also used imagery in the adverts to convey political or campaign messages. For example, he created an imaginative advert which was used by opponents of Michael Dukakis to campaign against him. These advertising techniques that Roger had used were adopted and inherited by the journalism generations that followed. Similarly, the advertising strategies have been widely adopted by business organizations to produce appealing business advertisements that can easily attract potential consumers. The adverts were composed of deceptive imageries that were used to ridicule Michael Dukakis as a presidential aspirant.

Roger Ailes also developed adverts to scorn and deride racial discriminations between black Americans and the Whites. In that manner, Roger Ailes was able to show that the media has the responsibility to disdain immoral and antisocial practices in the society. In my view, he has shed the light to media owners and mass media stakeholders on how to use their profession in journalism through the media in uncovering various social issues that may be affecting the society. For example, the revolving door advert depicted how inmates were discriminated based on their color of skin. Therefore, in my view, Roger Ailes wanted to prove that the mass media can be used to condemn evil acts in the society.

Furthermore, Roger Ailes wrote a book about his personal experiences in public relations. The book which he titled “You Are the Message: Secrets of the Master Communications” lays down various hardships and hurdles that journalists may face when executing their work. The book acted as a guideline and manual to journalists as well as other media communication stakeholders (Ailes 58). Today, the book is widely used in school and colleges to teach journalism subjects.

Moreover, through his firm, Ailes Communications Company, Roger Ailes was able to campaign against various societal evils such as smoking. For example, he formulated a campaign termed as Coalition for a Healthy California which pushed for implementation of a bill that would see cigarette and tobacco industries taxed higher to discourage consumption of such commodities (Wilkins & Christians 137). In my view, Roger Ailes was showing how mass media could be used to influence decisions made by the federal government concerning societal affairs. Through his campaigns, he helped the media in gaining recognition and power to influence policies of the federal government as well as those of state governments.

Additionally, through his TV Talk-Shows, Roger Ailes used the mass media in advocating for policies that were in the best interests to the public. For examples, after the September 11 attacks in the United States of America, Roger Ailes advocated for President George Bush to take harsh measurements against the suspected terrorists. He helped in creating social awareness to enhance humanity and societal peace and wellbeing of American citizens.

Last but not least, Roger Ailes was able to create job opportunities in the mass media industry through his Ailes Communications Company. This added to the gross domestic product and overall productivity of the American people. He is also well known for mocking the government. According to Voelker and Voelker, Roger Ailes started using the media to mock the government while still in school (216).

In conclusion, Roger Ailes is a great person who has worked in the mass media industry for many years. He has also used his vast experience in changing the outlook of the mass media industry. Through his close and intact relationships with high-end politicians, Roger Ailes was able to influence various policies that were to the best interests of media stakeholders. Furthermore, through Roger Ailes’ use of imagery in political campaigns adverts, society and journalists learned how to raise issues affecting society through mass communication. He was able to raise public awareness on various societal evils such as discrimination and poor health resulting from smoking.